Bill seeks to expand abortion access for students at California community colleges
Since 2023, health centers at University of California and California State University campuses have been required to offer access to abortion pills to students. Now, a bill moving through the Legislature seeks to expand that provision to student health centers at community colleges.
Assembly Bill 2540, authored by state Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, D-San Francisco, would mandate that the approximately 90 community colleges across California that have health centers offer access to medicinal abortion by Jan. 1, 2029. The bill also requires that these colleges — as well as the UC and CSU systems — promote awareness that abortion pills are available on campus among their student bodies. It follows media reports from 2024 that said several UC and CSU campuses had failed to provide students with basic information on where or how to access abortion medication despite offering it after the passage of a similar bill for those systems in 2019.
“Four years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, California has a responsibility to continue protecting and expanding access to reproductive healthcare,” Stefani said. “Rights mean little if people cannot access care, and where a student goes to college should never determine whether they can receive essential health services. AB 2540 helps ensure community college students have the same access to medication abortion services as their peers at UC and CSU campuses.”
In a committee presentation in June, Stefani said community college students seeking medication abortions often have to navigate transportation barriers, take time off work or simply go without care due to the lack of access on campus. At the same time, they are the ones who need it the most, she said. More than 60% of the student body across the California Community College system are economically disadvantaged, per data from the chancellor’s office.
After its passage by the California Assembly in May, the bill must now pass with a majority vote in the Senate before it can be sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for final approval. In the Assembly vote, all opponents to the bill were Republicans, a pattern that has followed the bill through all the votes it has been put through so far. It is expected to be taken up by legislators when they return from their summer recess early August.
The Health Services Association California Community Colleges, which represents healthcare professionals at student health centers, initially opposed the bill with the aim of pushing for amendments that would make it “both student-centered and implementable.” President Michelle Barclay said at a committee hearing in June that community college health centers across California are already operating near capacity and implementing the bill would take “careful planning and support” as well as ongoing funding.
An amendment added in July expanded the ways in which community college health centers could offer access to medication abortions. The service, per the amendment, can be provided not just by health center staff but also through contracted external agencies, community health providers or via telehealth. Barclay said this added flexibility was an “important step” and anticipated removing the association’s opposition.
Similarly, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office said it does not have a position on the bill but was working closely with the author and sponsor on amendments that “support successful implementation.”
To go into effect, the bill would require funding for “implementation readiness activities and ongoing operational costs” at each community college with a health center. This includes money for clinical staffing, student outreach, staff training and data collection.
In May, a legislative analysis estimated the implementation costs to the California Community College system range from $7 million to $28 million. In an April letter to that committee, Stefani wrote that the bill was designed to be implemented using existing infrastructure and would, hence, have a “manageable” fiscal impact.
She also wrote that annual reports by the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls showed that making similar provisions at UC and CSU campuses had had lower-than-expected costs.
The measure is co-sponsored by the Student Senate for California Community Colleges and supported by the California Medical Association and California Nurse-Midwives Association. It is opposed by Fresno-based organization California Family Council whose stated mission is to advance “God’s design for life, family and liberty through California’s church, Capitol and culture.”
This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 4:30 AM with the headline "Bill seeks to expand abortion access for students at California community colleges."
